Mercedes has officially lodged two protests against the result of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in which Max Verstappen claimed victory and the World Championship.
Verstappen claimed a last lap win over Hamilton, but the race ended in a controversial manner after the FIA restarted the race with just one lap left following a brief Safety Car period for Nicholas Latifi’s crash.
Hamilton had been leading prior to the restart, but was powerless to stop Verstappen who grabbed the lead into Turn 5, and stayed ahead on fresher and softer tyres.
Confusion occurred when the FIA initially told un-lapped cars to remain in position, but moments before the Safety Car peeled off into the pits, the notice for lapped cars to overtake was given, but only to those between Hamilton and Verstappen.
That meant several other un-lapped cars remained in position. Article 48.12 of the Sporting Regulations stipulates that “any cars that have been lapped by the leader will be required to pass the cars on the lead lap and the safety car.”
“Once the last lapped car has passed the leader the safety car will return to the pits at the end of the following lap.”
The Safety Car came into the pits at the end of the same lap rather than the following lap.
A second protest has been issued in relation to Article 48.8, which stipulates that a car cannot overtake the Safety Car, or lead car, prior to the Safety Car line. Verstappen was seen to have pulled alongside Hamilton during the restart and nudged ahead of his rival at one point.
“No driver may overtake another car on the track, including the safety car, until he passes the Line (see Article 5.3) for the first time after the safety car has returned to the pits.”
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